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(No Model.) 2 sheetssheen 1.

M. CRAWFORD. y 0.1L PRESS. vNo. 890,851. 888811888 001;. 9, 1888.

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m @c n To z mA/(W A Mi (No Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. CRAWFORD.

OIL PRESS.

No. 390,651. Patented Oct. 9, 1888.

6850i lfn coo C o m my M- 2 that the particular form and arrangement ilNiTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

llllDDLETON CRAWFORD, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

OIL-PRESS SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,651, dated October 9, i888.

Application filed December 29, 1887. Serial No. 259,327. 4 (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MIDDLE'roN CRAWFORD, a residentof Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, hav'einvented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Presses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention,- such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in oil presses, and is fully described and explained in this specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a press embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a central transverse section thereof through the line .r rr, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan thereof, cer.- tain of the parts being partially removed to show construction. Fig. 4 is a central section of a portion of the press in a plane parallel to the side faces thereof; and Fig. 5 is an elevation of a portion of the press looking in the direction indicated by the arrows a a, Figs. 1 and 3, certain of the parts being broken away to show construction.

In the views, A is a suitable base or b ed providedat its opposite ends witll uprightsA' A, rigidly fastened to the base and supporting the operating parts of the machine in the manner' hereinafter set forth. l

A A" are two uprights pvoted at their lower ends to the base by means oi' gudgeons p and connected with the upright A by links or rods a, which are pivoted at one end to the upright A', while their opposite ends pass through the swinging uprightsA" and are provided with nuts a', by means of which the vdistance of the upright A" from the upright A may be regulated. A shaft, B, preferably formed with an axial opening, I), for the admission of steam, is journaled in the uprights A", and on this shaft is mounted a wheel, C, formed preferably with 'an annular steamchamber, c, which is connected with the axial opening b of the shaft B by a series of pipes or channels, c. The office of the channels b c c' is the admission of steam to the wheel G, for the purposeof heating it, and it is evident of these channels is not material.

Outside of the wheel C, and eccentric with reference thereto, is suspended a'ring, D,whose position is determined and its easy rotation secured by means 'of a series of rollers, E, lmounted on suitable shafts which arejournaled in bearings attached to the base A and the upright A. The ring is provided with an external gear, d, engaging a pinion, d', which is mounted on a suitable shaft, B', journaled in bearings attached to the base of the machine, and the shaft B- may be provided with any ordinary means for its rotation.

Shields S S, fastened at one end to the upright A or to an attachment thereof, lie in contact with the side faces of the ring D and the wheel C and inclose the space between the wheel and the ring through an arc of about two-thirds of the circumference of a circle. The inner face of the ring D and the outer faeeof the wheel C are covered, first, with a layer of wiregauze, W, and, second, with a layer of cloth, P, such as is ordinarily used for the material of bags employed in pressing oil from ground seed. The surfaces of the wheel 7 5 and ring are formed with oblique and annular 'grooves g, Fig. 3, and in these grooves is bored aseries of radial holes, h. communicating with transverse holes h', extending outward to the side faces of the wheel and ring, the radial holes in thewheel as well as those in the ring being connected by annular chan'- nels F. l l

A receiving-hopper, 1l, supported by the upright A, opens into the space between the wheel C and ring D at a point on one side of the wheel and ring immediately above the upper end of one of the shields S and at the lpoint of greatest ecccntricity of the wheel and ring, and a discharge-spout,H,also supported by the upright A, lies on the opposite side of the press and is provided with an arm, H, extending obliquely upward into the space between the wheel and ring at a point a short distance above the receiving-hopper H.

It is evident that if ground material of any kind, as cotton seed or linrlseedmeal, be poured -into the hopper H it will pass from the hopper into the space below it inclosed by the contiguous surfaces of the wheel and ring `and the shields S S, which lie in contact with v the side faces of those parts. lf now power be applied to the shaft B', rotating it in the direction indicated by the arrow on the pin ion d', Fig. 1, the ring D will be rotated in the corresponding direction indicated by the arrow on its side face in Fig. l, and the friction of the meal or other material lying in the space between the wheel and ring will insure the rotation of the wheel in the same direction and practically at the saine rate as that of the ring; and since the ring and wheel are eccentric with reference to each other, and the space between them decreases regularly and continuously through an are ofone hundred and eighty degrees, the material entering the space between the wheel and ring at their point of greatest eccentricity,where the receivinghopper is located, will be reduced in bulk as the press rotates to a degree corresponding exactly with the diminution of the space between the ring and wheel from the point at which the hopper is located to a point directly opposite thereto. By means of the nuts a on the rods or links a the position of the uprights A may be regulated at will, and the position of the shaft B and wheel C may thus be varied in such a way as to establish any desired relation between themeal-receiving space at the point where the hopper is located and the corresponding space at a point diametrically opposite thereto; or, in other words, the decrease in the bulk of the meal as it passes from the hopper to a point directly opposite from the hopper and the consequent pressure put upon the meal may be regulated as desired by varying the position ofthe shaft B and the eceentricity of the wheel C with reference to the shaft D. As the ring and wheel rot-ate, any oil or moisture in the meal or other material entering the space between them is pressed out and passes through the cloth l? and wire-gauze WV and into the channels g in the contiguous surfaces ofthe wheel and ring. From these channels itis conducted through the radial holes IL and the transverse holes lr to the outer faces of the wheel and ring, the annular channels Fserving to lead the oil or moisture downward constantly to the lowest points Aof the wheel and ring. As the oil escapes from the press through the openings h', it drops down- 4wheel and ring until it reaches the arm H of the discharge-spout H. As the space between the wheel and ring increases constantly from` the point at which the pressing of the meal is completed to the point at which it encounters the arm I of the discharge-pipe H', and as the meal after being pressed is in a compact cake, it is completely detached from either the wheel or ring, or both, when it reaches the discharge spout, and it is therefore readily detached from the 4press and passes outward along the spout to any suitable receptacle outside the press. 'The motion of the press, the feeding of the meal to the space between the wheel and ring, and the discharge of oil and oil-cake from the press are all conti nuous, and no sacking or other corresponding .material 1s required to confine the meal during the operation of pressing.

The layers of porous material, P W, on the surfaces of the wheel and ring and the grooves in said surfaces, communicating as they do with openings for carrying away the oil, per` mit the constant escape of the oil from the meal at points distributed over a large surface, and the pressure required for completely extracting the oil from the material is thus much less than that which is required for extract-lng oil from material confined in a sack and having no means for the escape of the oil except at the edges of the sack.

It is well known that heat is essential to good results in extracting oil by pressure, and it has been common to heat the oil-containing matter before subjecting it to the action of the press. Such a process is necessarily laborlou's and imperfect; but my construction renders 1t possible to keep the material at any temperature below the point of combustion while the material is acted upon by the press, thus 1nsuring the most perfect extraction of the oil.

It is found, practically, in most oil-presses that the passages provided for the escape of the oil from the middle portion of the area of compression are soon clogged by the material compressed. My arrangement of passages h, surface grooves g, leading thereto, wire-cloth covering the grooved surfaces, and porous layer covering said wire-cloth obviate this difficulty, for the wire-cloth by its rigidity resists the pressure tending to force it into the grooves,and,bcing of small mesh, prevents the porous su pei-posed layer from meeting the grooved surface at all. Evidently other rigid material provided with small iuterstices or perforations may be substituted for the wirecloth.

Having now described myinvention and ex plained its operation, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a press of the class described, the combination, with an external hollow cylinder, of a second cylinder mounted within the same and eccentric with reference thereto, said iuner cylinder being formed with internal chambers for the admission of steam, whereby it may be heated, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

i' 2. The combination, with the base A and the ring D, of the wheel C, lying within the ring and eccentric with reference thereto and having a hollow shaft, D, for the admission of steam, an annular steam-chamber, c, near its periphery, and a series of channels, c', con

necting said steam-chamber with the opening in the hollow shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an oil-press; a press-chamber com# 5 posed of cylinders having opposite pressingwalls pierced by a series of openings for the escape of oil and provided with a series of surface grooves leading to said openings, combined with a perforated layer of rigid material covering the grooved surfaces of said walls and a layer of porous material covering therstnamed layer, substanti allyas set forth, whereby the oil may escape from all parts of the area `of compression and the passages therefor may be kept free from solid matter.

4. The com-bination,with'the ring D,and th wheel C,'lying Within the ring and eccentric with reference thereto, of the layers of fibrous material covering thecontiguous faces of said 2 0 ring and wheel, said ring and -wheel being formed with approximately radial' hles h and with transverse holes h', communicating with said radial holes and forming channels for the escape of oil from the space between the wheel and ring, substantiallyas and for the vbeing formed with radial and transverse holes l1. h', and the holes in each ofsaid parts `being connected by an annular channel; F,

substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In' testimony whereof l have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

MIDDLETON CRAWFORD.

' Witnesses: e

' GEO. H. LAMAR,

SCHUYLER DURYEE. 

